The present invention relates to a novel and useful windmill apparatus.
The harnessing of wind power has taken place for thousands of years. Wind turbines or windmills have been used to transfer wind energy into mechanical energy to mill grain, pump water, crush stones, and the like. Also, wind energy, attained through windmills, has been employed to generate electrical power.
The abundance of fossil fuels has, to a large extent, retarded the development of wind harnessing devices. However, the specter of a fossil fuel deficiency has emphasized the need to efficiently harness wind power along with other non-fossil fuel sources of energy such as tidal, movement, hydro-power, geothermal power, and the like.
In the past, windmills have typically involved the erection of a propeller-like mechanism atop a tower which is rotatable to face directly into the wind. The mechanical energy derived from such windmill structure is then used as needed. Although windmills have been efficiently designed, they include many drawbacks which directly affect the efficiency of the same. For example, existing windmills require a minimum wind velocity to operate which is relatively high. In addition, the erection of a tower and maintaining of the operating mechanism atop the tower results in a very high cost of maintenance and repair. Also, windmill blades are susceptible to the elements and exposure to birds and insects.
A windmill apparatus which overcomes many of the difficulties found in the prior art would be a notable advance in the field of energy generation.